


Villagers

by AuroraNova



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Genetic Engineering, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:59:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19795135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraNova/pseuds/AuroraNova
Summary: Miles is there for Julian, Julian is there for Miles. Snapshot of a friendship.





	Villagers

Cardassians could say what they wanted about how great they were (and in Miles’s experience, they never passed up an opportunity), but their engineering standards left a lot to be desired. His latest example of this was the Cardassian version of a self-sealing stembolt. Sure, it sealed itself just fine. But no one had bothered to put in any mechanism to _un_ seal it.

There was probably a special tool for the job, but of course the Cardassians hadn’t left any lying around when they turned over the station. Miles had never found time to make one because DS9 had so few of the bolts that it was never a priority. About now, he regretted the lapse.

Also, why didn’t the station have standardized bolts to begin with? He’d probably never know.

He cursed under his breath and tried again. Nothing. The damn bolt wouldn’t budge.

“Miles?” Julian’s voice was muffled because he was on the other side of a panel. Miles slid out from underneath it.

“Yeah?”

“There you are.”

“Been looking for me?”

“I wondered if you’d have time for darts when you get off shift.”

The question, in that tone, meant Julian wanted company. Either he was still dealing with the aftereffects of his month in Dominion custody, or it’d been a rough day in the infirmary. Miles didn’t ask. If Julian wanted to talk about it, he always would.

Miles was on bedtime duty that night while Keiko participated in a subspace botany conference. “I have to be home by 1730.”

“Enough time for at least two games.”

“If I can ever get this stembolt off, yeah.” The way it was going so far, he’d have to get a turbowrench, and that didn’t look good for fitting in darts. Maybe coloring with Molly would distract Julian from whatever was bothering him? Probably not, but Miles would invite him over anyway. Molly would love it.

He stuck his head back under the panel and tried again. After another minute of accomplishing nothing, he gave up. Time for the turbowrench. That bolt wasn’t going anywhere without one.

Julian crouched down. “Want me to try?”

Miles was about to decline when he remembered Julian was stronger than he looked. Julian still didn’t like talking about his enhancements. In retrospect, making him stand further away from the dartboard was a double-edged sword, because while Julian appreciated that the enhancements didn’t bother Miles, he did not like having everyone see just how different he was. Miles could’ve handled the situation better, and since then he’d carefully avoided anything which would call attention to the ways Julian was… more.

“Sure,” he said.

When Julian was under the panel with him, Miles pointed to the stubborn stembolt in question. “This one.”

“I’m not going to start a cascade failure if I hit something, right?”

“No.”

“Just checking.”

Julian had the bolt off in about fifteen seconds. Miles wondered how he kept in shape without tipping anyone off. Holosuite programs? Calisthenics in his quarters? He sure wasn’t using the station’s gym at his full abilities.

He didn’t ask, just said, “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

It was a quick job to swap out the malfunctioning relay once Miles could access it, and since the bolt sealed itself well enough, he was done in three minutes. “O’Brien to T’Lar. You can return internal sensors to normal routing.”

“Acknowledged.”

“O’Brien out.” He stood up and grabbed his toolbox. “Since you saved me time, let’s go. We can fit in a game or two, and if you’re bored after that, Molly likes coloring with you. She says you leave all the best crayons for her.”

“Last week I ended up drawing a landscape in greyscale plus orange,” said Julian.

Right. He’d stopped in for a house call when Yoshi had a nasty rash which ended up being a severe allergic reaction to Denobulan linen. (There were many benefits to having a doctor for a best friend. Not having to walk your screaming baby across the station was high on the list.) Somehow Molly talked Julian into drawing with her once Yoshi was rash-free, and Miles had forgotten about the odd color scheme. He’d been a bit sleep deprived at the time.

“I use purple sometimes so she learns to share. You don’t have to, though,” he added as an afterthought.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t dream of taking her favorite color crayon,” said Julian.

Miles – who was still running on less sleep, as you did with a new baby – realized that removing the bolt was the first time Julian had been open about what he could do of his own accord and without shame. It was probably a milestone of sorts. Best not to make a big deal about it, though.

Once again, Miles yawned. He couldn’t wait until Yoshi was sleeping longer. Even three uninterrupted hours would be nice. As it turned out, Molly had been an unusually good sleeper, and now her brother seemed determined to balance out how spoiled Miles and Keiko had been the first time around.

“Is Yoshi still getting you up every two hours?” asked Julian.

“What gave it away, the constant yawning, on the ever-present raktajinos?”

“You should cut back on the raktajinos, by the way. Too much caffeine isn’t doing you any favors, but I asked because you almost stepped on Crewman Lanais’em’s tail.”

“I did?” Miles looked back to see, yes, the crewman was behind him and her tail would’ve been dangerously close.

“You need sleep, Miles.”

“Tell that to my son.”

“I’m off tomorrow,” Julian said. “I could watch him for a few hours in the morning, while Molly’s at school. If you want.”

“If I want? It’s not like we have a long list of volunteers.” Kira loved Yoshi, but she was still nervous about babysitting him alone. Keiko was working on building her confidence. The crying didn’t help.

Wait, was this another Augment thing? Did Julian honestly think people wouldn’t trust him alone with their children? Miles wasn’t sure he dared ask.

Julian shrugged. “I’m free between 0800 and 1215.”

Miles loved his kids and wouldn’t trade them for anything, but four whole hours with Molly at school and Julian watching Yoshi sounded heavenly. Keiko was just as exhausted, so he was sure she’d jump at Julian’s offer. They might even spend the final hour awake and enjoy some quality time, if they were lucky. Miles couldn’t remember when they’d last had enough energy for sex. 

If Julian babysitting Yoshi demonstrated Miles and Keiko trusted him as much as before while simultaneously allowing them to get some much-needed sleep, that was what Miles considered a win-win scenario.

He felt obligated to warn, “He’ll cry.”

“I’ll live,” said Julian.

“Then I’ll double-check with Keiko, but I’m pretty sure you can expect one of us dropping him off around 0800.”

“I’ll have infant soothing music ready.”

“It hasn’t worked for us so far. Let me know if you find something he likes.” Keiko’s mother was probably on to something when said that first children had to be relatively easygoing or no one would have a second.

“Have you tried a Bajoran heartbeat?” suggested Julian.

Miles had not. For one thing he hadn’t thought to, and for another Keiko’s relationship with Kira carrying Yoshi was a complicated mixture of gratitude and loss which he tried not to aggravate. “How about you try it, and if Yoshi calms down, I’ll figure out how to tell Keiko.”

“Oh. That’s still a delicate subject, then?” Obviously Julian, in his quest to solve the problem, had forgotten about the emotional ramifications. Whatever better hand-eye coordination, strength, and almost-perfect memory he might now admit to, he was still the same person he’d always been. Brilliant, but liable to overlook important details.

“Yeah. Getting better, though.” When they neared Quark’s, Miles thought a change of subject was in order. He didn’t want to talk about Keiko where Quark was listening. “If I barely hit the board, I’m blaming it on sleep deprivation.”

“As your doctor, I’ll sign off on the excuse.”

“It’s not an excuse. It’s the truth.” Besides, Miles was only playing in the first place because Julian wanted company.

Maybe Julian knew that, because he just gave a little smile and took his position while Miles thought longingly of his bed. If a Bajoran heartbeat helped Yoshi sleep, Keiko would surely agree it was worthwhile.

They used to say it took a village to raise a child. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it did take more than two parents, and Miles counted his family lucky that Julian was part of their village.


End file.
